A 45-YEAR-OLD motorist who drove through St Helier while more than two and half times the legal alcohol limit has been sentenced to 100 hours of community service and banned from the roads for two years.
St Helier Centenier Paul Huelin, prosecuting, told the Magistrate’s Court that Philip Barry Benest Maletroit had been stopped by police officers on Victoria Avenue just after midnight on 25 August on suspicion of breaking the 40mph speed limit.
Maletroit did not complete a roadside breath test but took one at police headquarters which showed he had 89 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal maximum is 35 micrograms.
Advocate Sarah Dale, defending, accepted that the offence “crosses the custodial threshold” but argued for a lesser sentence.
She pointed out that Maletroit had not refused the roadside breath test but had been unable to complete it.
And she said: “Mr Maletroit admitted his guilt at the first hearing.
“This is something that is out of character for him. He is remorseful and ashamed.”
Relief Magistrate David Le Cornu ordered Maletroit to retake the driving test after the two-year ban before driving again.
